MUMBAI: Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and WOMAD (World Of Music Arts & Dance) yesterday announced that the WOMAD Abu Dhabi three-day open-air festival is to be held on the evenings of Thursday 23, Friday 24 and Saturday 25 April on the Abu Dhabi Corniche, with an additional, special one-off concert on Friday 24 April at Al Jahili Fort in Al Ain. Furthermore, entry to both venues will be free of charge.

�The Corniche, with its backdrop of traditional architecture juxtaposed with modern cosmopolitan towers, provides the perfect stage for ADACH and WOMAD to promote their shared vision of bringing diverse cultures and peoples closer together through the music, arts and dance of many different countries and cultures around the world.

"By hosting this three-day open-air festival, the first of its kind in the Gulf region, Abu Dhabi will bring a whole new cultural experience to the people of the UAE and will attract an audience from across the Gulf region and beyond, as well as offering the world an insight into the proud traditions and culture of the UAE," said HE Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouie, Director General ADACH.

"We are delighted to begin a relationship with ADACH and Abu Dhabi. It is a great opportunity for WOMAD to find a home in the Gulf region. We have taken WOMAD to many places in the world, but this will be our first event in the Middle East, a part of the world whose strong and rich culture has been one of our inspirations. We are excited to be bringing our festival to all of the different peoples who make up modern day Abu Dhabi," said Peter Gabriel, Co-founder of WOMAD.

"ADACH has a very powerful vision for the role of culture in Abu Dhabi and it is a privilege for WOMAD to be able to play a part in delivering that vision of bringing cultures together as we have done successfully all over the world," said Chris Smith, Director, WOMAD.

An exceptional line-up of artists performing at the festival has been selected from around the world and within the Middle East region to provide a truly international experience.

The artists already confirmed for the WOMAD Abu Dhabi festival include: Abdulla Chhadeh & Syriana (Syria/Europe), Dulsori (Korea), Dhafer Youssef (Tunisia), Etran Finatawa (Niger), Paprika Balkanicus (South Europe), Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali (Pakistan). Souad Massi (Algeria), Trilok Gurtu (India).

More artists will be announced over the coming weeks.

Real World Records and ADACH have begun discussions with the plan of giving a platform to Emirati and Arabic artists through the label. Real World Records was launched in 1989 and has grown into a label of wide-ranging, world-class music from all corners of the globe. The music company said it is interested to discover music from the Arab world, which can be released on Real World, promoted digitally through its website and introduced via our association with the B&W Music Club.

The company said it would like to explore the potential of bringing the chosen artist who will perform at WOMAD Charlton Park this July coming to Real World Studios for a recording session. "We are excited about the discovery of music from this part of the world and introducing it to new audiences," said a statement.

The WOMAD Abu Dhabi festival is not just about music. There will also be a variety of workshops and other activities, running before and during the three-day festival, designed to encourage greater cultural understanding through education and audience participation, making WOMAD Abu Dhabi a truly interactive experience for all ages.

The WOMAD Foundation has over 20 years' experience of working within a broad educational context bringing the arts of global cultures into the classroom, as well as initiating opportunities for cultural exchange at the festivals themselves. The foundation continues to look for new ways of engaging with young people through an incredible range of music, dance and visual arts from countries as far apart as Mexico, South Korea, Southern Africa and Australia. The WOMAD Foundation in partnership with ADACH presents 'WOMAD Beyond'.

WOMAD Beyond will encourage children to approach the unknown in an open and enquiring way, to explore the richness and diversity of the arts of global cultures including their own. The aims for the pre-festival project are:

� To offer a programme of work which will augment the current curriculum in both the local Arabic and international schools
� To introduce children to international artists and give opportunities for shared learning and cultural exchange
� To encourage creativity amongst young people
� To demonstrate the inherent richness and diversity within both Arabic and non-Arabic cultures
� To engender respect and understanding

This educational outreach programme for schools will bring musicians and visual artists from Zimbabwe, South Korea, India, Algeria and the UK into schools in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain from 6 April – 20 April, prior to the WOMAD Abu Dhabi festival. Workshops will include, percussion, dance, voice, musical collaborations, and arts and crafts of the Indian subcontinent and carnival arts from UK. Confirmed artists will be announced soon.

The WOMAD workshop programme has been an integral part of every WOMAD festival since 1982. For everyone, including the artists themselves, one of the most enjoyable and popular aspects of each WOMAD festival is its programme of workshops, master-classes and artist dialogues. Artists performing at WOMAD Abu Dhabi will be leading workshops sessions every night of the festival, where audiences can discover more about the artists, their culture, musical inspirations and experiences.

Discover the folk dances of South Korea, or the power of the Qawaali devotional vocal traditions from India and Pakistan and much more in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. In these sessions audiences are able to acquire a greater understanding of the cultural context of the artists' music and traditions.

WOMAD is renowned for its family-friendly, inclusive atmosphere. Its children's workshop programme brings together young people and professional artists to explore techniques and materials and create a fantastic array of costumes, headdresses, instruments and beautiful structures, all of which will be displayed in the final celebratory procession.

Taste the World has become an increasingly popular feature of WOMAD festivals around the world since 2005, bringing artists performing at the festival to a designated �cookery' stage to prepare and cook a traditional dish from their country of origin. These hosted sessions often include spontaneous moments of music and song with audience Q & A. What's more, everyone gets to taste the final dish.

These encounters are a fascinating and intimate opportunity to enter into the world of the artist. Taste the World in Abu Dhabi will celebrate the rich culinary traditions, spices and ingredients of the Emirates and desert cultures, whilst bringing together a fascinating group of artists from Europe, Africa, India and UK to cook and share traditional dishes from around the world.